Autism Leadership Team

Megan Robinson Joy, Ph.D., BCBA
Director of Autism Services

Megan Robinson Joy, Ph.D., BCBA, joined Devereux Pennsylvania in June 2017 as the director of autism services. In her role as state director, Dr. Joy provides clinical oversight of Devereux’s autism programs and services in Pennsylvania, including: the Center for Autism Research and Educational Services (CARES), the CARES consultation program, and the Community Adult Autism Partnership Program. She also oversees the implementation of the Devereux Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (D-PBIS) Autism model across our Pennsylvania centers.

Prior to Devereux, Dr. Joy was the regional director of Home and School Consultation at the May Institute in Randolph, Mass. There, she provided clinical and operational oversight to more than 70 clinicians providing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) services to children with autism in homes and in public schools.

Dr. Joy earned a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Stony Brook University under the mentorship of Dr. Edward Carr, one of the founders of Positive Behavior Support. She also holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Hamilton College, Summa Cum Laude. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

Dr. Joy’s work focuses on using the principles of ABA to develop contextually appropriate interventions to teach skills and reduce problem behaviors in natural settings. She has presented at a number of regional and national ABA conferences on supporting families with children with autism, functional behavior assessment, training therapists and educators on the principles of ABA, and using multi-tiered systems of support to develop effective staff training and supervision models.

Cathleen Albertson,
M.A.
BCBA Clinical Coordinator, Devereux CARES

Ms. Albertsonis
the Clinical Coordinator for Devereux CARES in Downingtown, PA where she
oversees all clinical aspects of the school and transition program. She
received her BA in Psychology from the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA
and her Master’s Degree in Psychology from Brandeis University in Waltham,
MA, and has been a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2006. Ms.
Albertson’s began her career at Melmark and was appointed Director of
Children’s Residential Services, where she was charged with the oversight and
management of complex special education programming. Ms. Albertson has
presented at national and regional conferences. Areas of interest
include staff training, transition services, collaboration with multiple
disciplines, and feeding disorders.

Dr. Allen is
presently the Director of Clinical Services for Devereux Pennsylvania’s
Community Services Division, where he oversees the clinical services for
home, school and community based programs serving both children and adults on
the autism spectrum and as well as other developmental disabilities and/or
mental health concerns. Dr. Allen has
extensive experience providing psychological assessment, consultation and
clinical supervision in community programs serving individuals with autism. He completed his doctoral degree in School
Psychology from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and both his
BS and MS in psychology at Saint Joseph’s University. Dr. Allen has presented on research studies
involving quality of life, data-based decision making, strength-based
assessments and client satisfaction.
Dr. Allen has also conducted professional workshops on functional behavior
assessment and positive behavioral interventions. He currently teaches autism-specific
courses at the Saint Joseph’s University Kinney Center for Autism as well as
applied behavior analysis at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic
Medicine.

Christine Ivanick
has been a professional in the field of autism since 1986 and has been a part
of both community-based direct service programs and consultation and training
programs throughout that time. Since coming to Devereux CARES in 2007, Ms.
Ivanick has provided community-based consultation and training to
educational, vocational and residential agencies and families for individuals
with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) across the life-span. In addition,
Christine assists with the coordination of as well as participation in the
CARES Autism Summer Institute, a three-day workshop and training
series. Christine received her Masters of Science Degree from the
University of North Carolina – Greensboro in Child Development and Family
Studies and a BA in Psychology and Human Development from Indiana University
in Bloomington. Christine received her training in Positive Behavior
Support through the Research and Training Center, a national network of
positive behavior support training in 1990 while working as an educational consultant
at the Institute for the Study of Developmental Disabilities at Indiana
University in Bloomington, Indiana. Ongoing interests include increasing
skills for individuals on the autism spectrum using positive behavior
support, community involvement for individuals with ASD across the lifespan,
especially into adulthood, and social skills research and interventions for
individuals with ASD.

Dr.
McNellis is the Clinical Director at Devereux PA Children’s IDD Services
(CIDDS) in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Devereux CIDDS provides residential
treatment services for children and adolescents with autism spectrum
disorders and/or intellectual disabilities who also present with concomitant
psychiatric and behavioral concerns. CIDDS recently expanded to include a
highly specialized short-term autism intensive residential services program
as well as an Autism Diagnostic Center. As Clinical Director, Dr. McNellis
supervises a team of 22 clinicians and clinical consultants. Dr. McNellis is
a member of the Devereux Autism Resource Team and Devereux National Autism
Committee. Dr. McNellis is a licensed psychologist who received her doctorate
degree in clinical psychology from Immaculata University and has presented
nationally on a variety of topics related to the specialized assessment and
treatment needs of ASD and ID clinical populations. Most recently, Dr.
McNellis co-authored an article entitled “Residential Treatment of Serious
Behavioral Disturbance for Children with ASD/ID” which is published in the
January 2014 edition of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North
America.

Stewart M. Shear is
a licensed Psychologist in the State of Pennsylvania and for the past 16
years has worked as the Director for Clinical Services for Devereux’s
Pennsylvania Adult Services (formerly the Whitlock Center). Dr. Shear earned
his Master’s Degree in Psychology with a clinical concentration from Marywood
University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the State University of
New York (SUNY), Binghamton campus. He earned his Ph.D. from Lehigh
University with a specialty in School Psychology.

In his role as
Clinical Director, Dr. Shear oversees the implementation of clinical services
for adults with intellectual disabilities, dual diagnosis and brain injury.
Dr. Shear also supervises the implementation of clinical services for
Devereux’s community-based wrap around services and day programs. He has
recently been appointed as a Senior Clinical Director for Devereux to provide
oversight, consultation and assistance to regional and state-wide programs
serving individuals with intellectual disabilities, autism,
emotional/behavioral disorders and brain injury. He also is a supervising
Psychologist for Devereux’s Doctoral Internship Program, serves on the IRB
Research Review Committee, is a member of Devereux’s National Ethics
Committee, and is an advisory board member for the Pennsylvania Communities
Faith Leadership Project.

Prior to his
position at Pennsylvania Adult Services, Dr. Shear served as the Devereux
Administrator for Community Services for individuals with
intellectual/developmental disabilities in New Jersey and was the
Pennsylvania Clinical Director for children with intellectual disabilities.

Currently, Dr.
Shear’s interest is in applied research related to self management as well as
the practice of faith and quality of life issues for adults with
disabilities. His research has resulted in various publications and
presentations at local and national conferences

Dr. Shear is a
member of the American Psychological Association, the Pennsylvania
Psychological Association, and the National Association of School
Psychologists.

Kristen received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from UCLA and her pre-doctoral training with Drs. Ivar Lovaas and Tristram Smith at UCLA’s Clinic for Early Intervention. She received both her Master’s Degree in Behavior Analysis and her Doctorate in Developmental and Child Psychology from the University of Kansas. Her advising professor at the University of Kansas was Dr. Donald M. Baer. At UCLA, Dr. Villone provided home-based, behavioral therapy with young children with autism in a variety of capacities (behavior therapist, senior therapist, clinic supervisor, workshop consultant) with families and school districts across the country. At the University of Kansas, she served as a supervisor across a variety of settings, including a residential treatment facility for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a home-based behavior therapy program with court-mandated families, and a university preschool classroom in the Edna A. Hill Child Development Center.

Upon graduation,
Dr. Villone served as Clinic Supervisor for a UCLA early-intervention
replication site in Rockville, Maryland. In 2001, Dr. Villone and a colleague
developed the School Consultation Department at Bancroft NeuroHealth, which
provided classroom-based behavioral training, workshops/in-service training
sessions, program development and individualized behavior-support plans for
children with a variety of disabilities (Autism spectrum disorders, ADHD,
Down’s syndrome, language delays) in New Jersey and Philadelphia-area school
districts. In 2003, she continued to provide these types of services as
Melmark’s Director of Consultative Services, where she also conducted program
evaluations and provided expert testimony across the country and in Canada.
In 2008, Dr. Villone served as Senior Clinical Behavior Analyst at the
Melmark School, training and supervising staff to provide clinical and
educational programming for students with severe challenging behaviors.

Dr. Villone has
presented at major universities (Georgetown, University of Maryland,
University of Kentucky, Howard University, American University, Auburn
University), national-level conferences (Association of Behavior Analysis,
Association for the Education of Young Children), state-level conferences
(New Jersey Center for Outreach and Services for the Autism Community,
Alabama’s Department of Education, New York State’s Board of Cooperative
Educational Services), and international-level conferences (Manitoba Families
for Effective Autism Treatment, Association of Behavior Analysis-Toronto). In
2007, Lorman Educational Services published her manual “Developing Behavior
Plans for Aggressive Children.” Dr. Villone is Board Certified Behavior
Analyst and is a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis and the
Association for Science in Autism Treatment.